By Inferno's Light (episode)
The crew tries to defend the Alpha Quadrant from the invading Dominion fleet; Worf, Garak, and the other prisoners prepare to escape from the Dominion Internment Camp. (Part 2 of 2) Summary Teaser The Dominion fleet enters the Alpha Quadrant, but does not attack Deep Space 9; instead, it heads directly for Cardassian space. Gul Dukat reveals his duplicity; he has secretly negotiated with the Dominion for the Cardassians to become its newest members. Act One Worf, Bashir, Garak and Martok plan their escape from Internment Camp 371. The prisoners on Internment Camp 371 are gathered together. The prison's commanding Vorta, Deyos, announces that Cardassia has joined the Dominion and, consequently, all the Cardassians imprisoned at 371 are being released… with the exception of Garak. When Garak demands to know why he is not being released, Deyos reveals that the new head of the Cardassian government is none other than Gul Dukat. A video of Gul Dukat as leader is played on Cardassia and DS9. He promises to remove all Klingons and Maquis from within Cardassian space. The Changeling infiltrator, the Julian Bashir Changeling, having stopped the Federation from destroying the wormhole now proceeds with a plan that could destroy the Bajoran system while he convinces the DS9 staff of the possibility of a Changeling aboard DS9 and to begin blood screenings. Act Two While Garak works inside a tight space next to their cell to contact their runabout's transporter, Worf is coerced into a series of hand-to-hand battles with Jem'Hadar warriors, beginning with the youngest. Back in the Alpha Quadrant, Kira and Ziyal talk on the promenade, discussing the duplicitous actions of her father, Dukat. A Klingon fleet led by Chancellor Gowron has shown up at DS9, readying for a confrontation with a combined Dominion-Cardassian fleet. Sisko suggests to Gowron that the Khitomer Accords be revived. Gowron accedes. Act Three Worf continues fighting the Jem'Hadar and kills the last one of five. Once back in the cell, Bashir treats Worf and states that he has three or four broken ribs. The Doctor recommends that Worf stop fighting, but Worf refuses. Garak is still working inside the tight space, is talking to himself and seems to be losing his mind. The others hear strange noises coming from within the space. Bashir enters the confined space and brings Garak out into the cell for a break. Bashir states that Garak has claustrophobia and will be unable to continue to try contacting the runabout. The staff aboard DS9 is waiting for reinforcements. Kira enters Ops and states that the security blocks of one of the industrial replicators was overridden and the memory core wiped. Sisko is contacted by Gul Dukat. Dukat recommends that the Federation joins the Dominion. Dukat lays claim to DS9 and gives Sisko an ultimatum: either Sisko will surrender the station, or Dukat will take it by force. Act Four Martok assists Worf back to the cell, returning from his seventh hand-to-hand victory. Garak gets up out of bed and insists he is ready to continue working in the enclosed space. The Julian Bashir Changeling and O'Brien talk in the infirmary. O'Brien is shocked when Bashir talks excitedly about having purchased darts, but does not suspect that Bashir is a Changeling. Worf, back at the combat area, is waiting for his next opponent, when Deyos and the Jem'Hadar First, Ikat'ika, arrive instead. Ikat'ika announces that he will fight Worf himself. Meanwhile, Garak is back in the crawlspace when Jem'Hadar soldiers come in the cell looking for him. They find the tool that was used to open the panel to the space where Garak is. Sisko orders Kira and Dax to the Defiant for the pending battle and deploys the runabouts. The Julian Bashir Changeling is on the runabout ''Yukon'' and responds to Ops in a female's voice, having already incapacitated the original crew. O'Brien announces that a build up of tachyon particles has been detected, and ships begin decloaking around the station… Romulan ships. The Romulans request permission to join the fleet; Sisko, while quite surprised, grants their request. Kira, on the Defiant, states that the Cardassian-Dominion fleet is merely ten minutes away. Act Five Bashir tries to bluff the Jem'Hadar soldier about the tool. Bashir flippantly quips that "it's either a self-sealing stem bolt or a reverse-ratcheting router." Not convinced, the soldier vaporizes a Romulan prisoner and then threatens to kill another if Bashir continues to lie. Before the leader can kill Bashir for his insolence, another soldier figures out the tool's use. Worf is losing the fight against Ikat'ika and Martok advises that he stop. Garak is perilously close to being found out when the prisoners manage to kill the Jem'Hadar soldiers in the cell, albeit losing one of their own in the process. Worf, who is clearly beaten, refuses to yield. Ikat'ika refuses to kill Worf, as Worf had earned his respect as a warrior, and so he yields instead. Deyos orders that they both be executed. Just at that moment, Garak is finally successful in contacting the runabout, and the prisoners are beamed aboard just before Worf would have been killed by the Jem'Hadar. tractors the Yukon]] Back on DS9, everyone is confused by the lack of an attacking fleet contrary to the sensor readings. Bashir, Worf, and Garak send a message to the Alpha Quadrant in time to alert Sisko and DS9 that "Bashir" is an impostor. Kira and Dax, aboard the Defiant, determine that the Changeling has rigged the runabout Yukon with trilithium, tekasite, and protomatter, which if detonated inside the Bajoran sun, would induce a supernova, destroying Bajor, DS9, and the Klingon fleet in one fell swoop. The Defiant warps toward the sun and tractors the Yukon away in time to prevent the supernova. It dives off into free space and explodes. The sensor readings of the Dominion fleet suddenly vanish. Sisko realizes that the whole thing was a plot to lure the combined fleets of the Alpha Quadrant's superpowers to the Bajoran system and then blow them all up together with Bajor and Deep Space 9. Yet the plan failed and "Armageddon will have to wait… for another day". At Quark's, Garak and Ziyal emotionally reunite, as do Dax and Worf in the infirmary. Meanwhile, Chief O'Brien is baffled to realize he has been hanging around with a Changeling for the last four weeks. On the promenade, Gowron signs the final version of the new treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, which includes a permanent Klingon military presence on DS9. Sisko is given the right to choose the commander himself, and asks General Martok to take the job. Dukat contacts Sisko to congratulate him. Sisko points out that Ziyal would have died along with them if the bomb had gone off, but the new leader of Cardassia does not seem to bother, saying he does no longer consider her his daughter. Dukat tells Sisko that he may have escaped defeat today, but tomorrow… "We will see about tomorrow", the Captain interrupts. "Yes, we will", Dukat replies, ending the transmission. Memorable Quotes "The Jem'Hadar don't eat, don't drink and they don't have sex... and if that wasn't bad enough, the Founders don't eat, don't drink and they don't have sex either, which, between you and me, makes my financial future less than promising." "It might not be so bad. For all we know the Vorta could be gluttonous, alcoholic sex maniacs." : - Quark and Tora Ziyal "Dukat, stop trying to be a hero. Get back to the station!" "Your concern is touching, Major, but I think you misunderstand me. I'm not attacking the Dominion fleet. I'm joining it." "What are you talking about?" "I'm afraid I have a confession to make, Major. For the past few months, I've been conducting secret negotiations between the Dominion and Cardassia. And, as of last week, Cardassia has agreed to become part of the Dominion." "You can't be serious." "Goodbye, Major. You and I on the same side; it never seemed quite… right, did it?" : - Kira and Dukat "Think of it. Five years ago no one had ever heard of Bajor or Deep Space 9. Now all our hopes rest here. Where the tides of fortune take us, no man can know." "They're tricky, those tides." : - Chancellor Gowron and Sisko "Dukat, if you've got something to say to me, say it." "Then I'll make it simple. A few days ago I swore all Cardassia lost would be regained. That space station you're so fond of was built by Cardassia." "Funny. I thought it was built by Bajoran slave labor." "Either surrender the station, or I'll take it by force. The choice is yours." "If you want to retake the station, Dukat, you're welcome to try." : - Sisko and Gul Dukat "Tain, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I just want you to know, you may not have been much of a father, but I really wish you were alive right now. That way, you could be in here, instead of me." : - Garak "There is no greater enemy than one's own fears." : - Martok, to Worf "My people have a saying: 'Never turn your back on a Breen.'" : - The female Romulan prisoner, about the Breen prisoner "You might ask, should we fear joining the Dominion? And I answer you, not in the least. We should embrace the opportunity. The Dominion recognizes us for what we are...the true leaders of the Alpha Quadrant. And now that we are joined together, equal partners in all endeavors, the only people with anything to fear will be our enemies. My oldest son's birthday is in five days. To him and to Cardassians everywhere I make the following pledge: by the time his birthday dawns, there will not be a single Klingon alive inside Cardassian territory, or a single Maquis colony left within our borders. Cardassia will be made whole. All that we have lost will be ours again, and anyone who stands in our way will be destroyed. This I vow with my life's blood. For my son, for all our sons." : - Dukat "You fight because that is what you were designed to do. All that motivates him is some barbaric sense of honor." "And that is something you will never understand." : - Deyos and Ikat'ika, on Worf "Victory is life." "Today '''is' a good day to die." : - 'Ikat'ika' and 'Worf, comparing worldviews. "Four weeks? Are you telling me I've been hanging around with a Changeling for over a month?" "And you even never suspected it wasn't me?" "No! And the worst part is, the clues were right in front of me!" "What clues?" "Well, for one thing, he was much easier to get along with." : - '''O'Brien and Bashir "I yield. I cannot defeat this Klingon. All I can do is kill him. And that no longer holds my interest." : - Ikat'ika, when Worf refuses to stay down "Right now I wouldn't believe your father if he said rain was wet." : - Kira Nerys, to Tora Ziyal Background Information *This episode deals with two major story arcs which had originally been introduced in previous episodes: *# The Klingon War, which began in and was seen throughout season 4, is officially ended by Gowron when he re-signs the Khitomer Accords and once again allies the Klingon Empire with the Federation. Also important in this arc is the presence of General Martok, who was presumed dead after the revelation that he had been replaced by a Changeling in . *# The Dominion War, which had existed in a state of cold war since the second season finale , becomes a more urgent matter with the advancement of the Dominion fleet into the Alpha Quadrant and Dukat's decision to have Cardassia become a member. * There are a great deal of references to previous episodes: Worf's desire to fight a Jem'Hadar, as revealed in , is here realized; the Dominion fleet heading towards Bajor but then turning and moving towards Cardassia confirms Sisko's vision in ; Dukat's reference to himself and Kira being on the same side refers to and ; the references to Cardassian cultural depression and economic stagnation, and Dukat's promise to eliminate all Klingon troops in Cardassian territory, recalls the events of ; Dukat's reference to Sisko saving his life more than once refers to the episodes , where Sisko recues Dukat from the Maquis, and , in which Sisko helps Dukat escape Cardassia before the Klingon fleet arrives. * Garak's role and actions in this episode are similar to 's in the 1963 film . Both men were forced to work in a confined area and both suffered from claustrophobia. It is also worth noting that Andrew Robinson himself suffers from mild claustrophobia, and on the day the crawl space scenes were shot, he was suffering from the flu. He says of these scenes, "I didn't have to act. I was there." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * Robert Hewitt Wolfe based the depiction of an economically depressed Cardassia on the brink of cultural collapse on the , the government of Germany between the two World Wars, from 1919 to 1933. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) In the republic, due to the vast war reparations Germany was forced to pay, it was actually cheaper to burn money than to buy wood, and people needed wheelbarrows full of money to afford bread. used this situation to his advantage, promising that if he rose to power, he would change the fortunes of his people. This is exactly what Dukat does; he uses Cardassia's depressed economic condition after the Klingon invasion to facilitate his own rise to power by ensuring his people that an alliance with the Dominion will help them to improve their lives. By this comparison, the Detapa Council is a proverbial Weimar republic. * This episode ends the process of depicting the character of Gul Dukat in a more sympathetic light, a process which began in and was carried on in episodes such as , , , , and . Ever since , Dukat's role as a clear-cut villain had been rendered more and more ambiguous, especially in the aforementioned three episodes from the fourth season. Whereas the character had initially been introduced as a typical bad guy, it seemed that the writers were on course to completely turn him around, and eventually have him as a protagonist. However, according to both Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe, they had always intended Dukat's change of heart to be temporary, and they always knew, even when writing episodes like , that somewhere down the road he would show everybody just how truly evil he really was. As Behr explains, they never had any intention of turning Dukat into a good guy; "Dukat is a self-deluded, opportunistic, egomaniacal sadist. In other words he is the Richard Nixon of [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|''Deep Space Nine]]. He will do whatever it takes to come out on top''." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * Although both this episode and were extremely popular with viewers, the producers were a little disappointed with how the two-parter turned out. As Ira Steven Behr explains, "I'm not sure if this worked as well as it could have as a two-parter. It might have been better as a two-hour block. Or even as a ninety-minute show. We didn't really gain anything by splitting them up. The second hour moves like a house on fire. Events are happening at such an accelerated pace. If we'd had the hour or forty-five-minute buildup immediately precede it, I'd have liked it better." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * The seemingly strange decision on the part of the Jem'Hadar to leave the runabout orbiting Internment Camp 371 would be addressed by Luther Sloan of Section 31 in the episode . * Regarding how the transporter identified the escapees, Ronald D. Moore commented: "I think that Garak programmed the transporter to beam out anyone who wasn't a Jem'Hadar or a Vorta within a given area." http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/6952/ron8.txt * Dax is hesitant about jumping to warp inside the Bajoran solar system. In , Captain Kirk had to risk jumping to warp inside Earth's solar system to intercept V'Ger as soon as possible. * This episode shows the audience the second 'honorable' Jem'Hadar soldier; Ikat'ika. The first was Omet'iklan in the episode . Others would include Remata'Klan in and Ixtana'Rax in . * The shots of Dukat addressing the Cardassian people on viewscreens are re-used from , with Dukat's image replacing that of Chief Archon Makbar. * Rene Auberjonois (Odo) does not appear in this episode. Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 5.8, . *As part of the DS9 Season 5 DVD collection. Links and References Guest Stars *Andrew J. Robinson as Elim Garak *Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat *Melanie Smith as Tora Ziyal *J.G. Hertzler as Martok *Ray Buktenica as Deyos *James Horan as Ikat'ika *Carrie Stauber as Romulan Prisoner *Robert O'Reilly as Gowron Co-Stars *Barry Wiggins as Jem'Hadar Officer *Don Fischer as Jem'Hadar Guard *Judi Durand as Station Computer Voice Uncredited Co-Stars *Cathy DeBuono as Breen prisoner *Unknown performers as: ** Markalian Prisoner ** Romulan Prisoner References Alpha Quadrant; Armageddon; Bajoran; Bajoran wormhole; blood; blood screening; Breen; Cardassia; Cardassian; Changeling; Commander; ''Danube''-class; ''Defiant'', USS; Dominion; Dukat's Bird-of-Prey; Gilhouly; heart; humanoid; Federation-Dominion Cold War; Ferengi; Japar; Keedera; Klingon; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; Klingon opera; Gamma Quadrant; graviton emitter; Internment Camp 371; Jem'Hadar; neutrino; Nog; Obsidian Order; Romulan; runabout; solid; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; task force; trilithium weapon; Tzenketh; United Federation of Planets; ''Y'tem'', IKS; yamok sauce |next= }} Category:DS9 episodes de:Im Lichte des Infernos es:By Inferno's Light nl:By Inferno's Light